How are you soon to be b-schoolers faring this year? I hope things are looking up after last year – a super competitive year for any wannabe MBA. Like many of you, I am a reapplicant, targeting R2.

Applying this year was a little bitter sweet. Not really used to failure, being dinged last year, was a bummer. Especially in light of the fact that my girlfriend made it to a top 5 school and decided to move across the country. I thought long and hard; should I apply to many business schools, or just focus on the ones that I really like?

It was a turning point, one lonely night, a decision was made. No matter how much analysis I did, it became a question of what I could fit into my life, when I wasn’t working 12 hour days or flying coast to coast.

Fast forward today, I’m applying to a small selection of schools, two to be exact: Columbia and Wharton.

My basis for picking these schools? I just loved visiting them. When you’re at the point I am in my career, a two year MBA doesn’t make sense unless its at a school you love.

That’s very risk seeking, you say. Plan B, you ask. Well, there are always other options including the 1-year programs at many US and international schools, and executive MBAs. If I had to have an MBA, I would probably go that route.

So lets see how things pan out this year fellas. Hopefully, I’ll get it right this time.